Letters for Monday — November 28, 2005

• Title IX: Young men being punished

• Open letter to the Kaua’i County Council

Title IX: Young men being punished

My wife and I cannot believe what we read in the paper today. Any law, policy, or program, especially those that are federally funded, that applies to one gender and not the other is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Whatever the excuse, these programs, like Title IX, should not be receiving federal or state support or funding. Any fair-minded person would agree. As my Mom use to say, “Two wrongs do not make a right.”

How many girls out there want to play football? I personally would love to see an all-female football game. But why should our boys have to suffer because girls in general have less interest in football than boys? Our young men are already paying the price for our years of silence. Must we punish them further for the misfortune of being born male in an “unfair to males” society?

• Dr. Peter R. Saker
  Lihu’e

Open letter to the Kaua’i County Council

We are unable to attend the Council meeting this Wednesday morning, Nov. 23, due to a prior community volunteerion commitment, however, we would like to express our support for voting in favor of Bill No. 2149, FOR the approval of over-night camping at the Lydgate Park camp sites near the Kamalani Kai Bridge.

As all of the members of the Kaua’i community know, these camp sites were built by hardworking volunteers of The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park last year with hard labor and many hours taken from other pursuits these citizens might have been pursuing for personal gain or entertainment/relaxation.

We have found that the whole area of Lydgate Park has been transformed from a neglected, overgrown disgrace, to a community facility that is a source of pride, and we have enjoyed using the now improved south end of the park for family picnics/swims, as well as recommending it to visitors and associates.

We urge you to vote affirmatively for the approval of Bill No. 2149 and allow overnight camping by permit. We hope other citizens will add to this by either writing their affirmation of the subject bill to Council, or by attending the 9 a.m. meeting and speaking their testimony.

Thank you for this opportunity to provide input.

• Dawn & Delano Kawahara
  Kapa`a

Nitpickers should be hailed, not flailed

Mr. Pete Antonson needs to review his facts.

The nine (not four) person Mayor’s Committee on Kaua’i’s electric utility was formed in 2001 after the Public Utility Commission dismissed KIUC’s $280 million proposed purchase of Kauai Electric. That price, $100 million above appraisal was deemed excessive by the commission. The Committee concluded that ownership of the utility by either the County or by a well-run cooperative would be more in the interest of the people than having continued ownership by Citizens Utilities. The committee recognized the problems with direct operation of the utility by the county and expressly recommended that, if owned by the County, operation would be under a board free from political control or influence. The Committee did not “try to persuade us to have the County purchase and run the utility” as Antonson says. I was a member of that committee.

I was told that the County Council was poised to approve the initial price until some of the “nitpickers” gave testimony which caused them to reconsider and seek counsel. That counsel endorsed the nitpickers position. Subsequently, another purchase was proposed and consummated at a price $60 million lower than the original proposal, yet, still some $40 million over appraised value.

So, it would appear that the “nitpickers” were reasonably successful in their efforts to cool the price of KE.

The nitpickers have been involved with the efforts of ‘Ohana Kauai in its successful promotion of the Charter Amendment to reform real estate taxes on homeowner occupied residences.

Doesn’t sound like sore “losers,” does it?

County management under the previous administrations of Mayor Kusaka and Chairman Kouchi was not beyond criticism but reasonable and acceptably open.

The lack of concern of the current County authorities for the will of the people as exhibited by their legal efforts to upset the expressed voice of the people, and the placing of a cloak over their deliberations, should be enough for anyone to hail the efforts of the “nitpickers”, rather than flail them.

Mr. Antonson, are you there?

• Chick Lanphier
  Princeville

Slaughtering goats

I just read the letter by Paul Kelly of Kalaheo about the slaughtering of goats in front yards and I have to stand up and applaud!

There is a family in our neighbor-hood that runs a care home for the elderly (and I am wondering if THAT is even legal in a residential neighbor-hood) and they occasionally slaughter animals in their front yard also. I can not begin to tell you how disgusting and upsetting such an event can be.

I am especially concerned since they dump the blood and guts down the storm drain. Isn’t doing that a health hazard?

And while I also like to remain culturally sensitive to other people’s customs, I have to say this is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen and heard, and if they do it again, I will be calling the police and the health department to file a complaint.

You know who you are so you would be well-advised to quit this inhumane practice.

• Kay Obloy
  Wailua Homesteads

Chickens must be controlled

There has been quite a bit of concern of the bird flu these past months. I think that we are going to have a huge issue here if a sick migrating bird lands on our shores because of the massive unchecked population of chickens on the island.

There is not an area of Kaua’i that is not overrun by chickens. I saw an article in this paper a few years ago the Hawaii Visitors Bureau was concerned about the chickens because the tourists were complaining about the noise from the chickens.

I think we now have a far more serious reason to start controlling these chickens.

Just a thought but what if it got started here?

• Captain Ted Myers RA
  Kilauea